| Abstract: | The quality of lubricating base oils used worldwide is changing rapidly as a result of stringent environmental regulation and the pressing need for oils to perform well under severe operating conditions. For example, although the base oil market in India now depends entirely on conventional group I base oils, group II and III base oils will soon be mandatory in lubrication formulation. These oils are generally more stable towards oxidation due to the virtual absence of heteroatom‐containing compounds and to their low aromatic content. The analytical procedures developed over the years for the characterization of new and used group I mineral base oils will not be successful for all the requirements of these new oils. Thus, a systematic study is required to test the universal validity of characterisation methodology for these new‐generation base fluids. This paper focuses on the use of various analytical techniques for base oil characterization and the methodology required for the total characterization of new‐generation base oils. |
